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Pachter: "The handheld market sucks", "PS Vita is a joke" and more.
- Thread starter Madrugador
- Start date
Father_Brain
Banned
Western devs have never been particularly bullish on dedicated handhelds in general.
EDIT: With limited exceptions for the first couple years or so of PSP's lifespan, but that can largely be attributed to the perceived inevitability of its success as a new PlayStation platform.
It's hard to be excited about them when WiiU is getting so many awesome games, I guess.
peanutbutterlatte
Member
Did they with the DS, really? Struggling to think of huge western 3rd party games.
Either this is sarcasm or Rm88 is from bizarro world where 3DS only has a port of 2011's Xbox 360/PS3 hit Resi Revelations to look forward to...
GhostOfLawlight
Banned
Could it be because 3DS games have low sales outside of Japan?
Spinoffs of huge western 3rd party games, made by B/C teams and Gameloft.
peanutbutterlatte
Member
Most likely sure, but again, big Western DS titles...?
Oh yeah, n-space CoD games. Almost forgot!
If DS AKA the best selling gaming device ever released didn't attract a ton of Western support, I'm not sure what's so surprising about 3DS not getting it either. And as has been mentioned plenty of times already, Western developers mostly don't care about handhelds, period.
Sarcasm indeed.
Well unless you include indies for the 3DS and the Vita. Western indies seem fine with handhelds, which makes sense due to low dev cost and etc.
We won't see many big handheld games from Western pubs though.
tamaster92
Member
The one thing I don't get is
" not a prayer of making money on vita"
Aren't they in profit already? Not to say its selling well but with the memory cards and attatch rate I swear they said they are already making money
" not a prayer of making money on vita"
Aren't they in profit already? Not to say its selling well but with the memory cards and attatch rate I swear they said they are already making money
Aquamarine
Member
I don't think there's been ONE large-budget, non-spinoff Western handheld IP.
That really says a lot about Western developer sentiment. Handhelds are a uniquely Japanese phenomenon. Japanese gamers + developers are overwhelmingly entranced by them.
So the Vita not being a Japanese-focused console...is partially why it's struggling so much.
cj_iwakura
Member
I'm well aware of that, but I'm pretty sure handheld games are still frequently topping the charts in Japan, so he's wrong on that count too.
BocoDragon
or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Does that make up for years of R&D and marketing?
Tearaway coming up, but I'm sure there are more. I just can't think of anymore off the top of my head. Unit 13 was probably decent budget.
The Mana Legend
Banned
Aren't alts banned on Neogaf?
And Western devs in general (not just 3DS) are trash at supporting handhelds.
Phonomezer
Banned
Where are the lies?
Who said anything about lies? Do people only make threads about lies?
His suggestion about the "3 month window" for used games is really good I think.
The people that buy used games don't care about getting games as soon as they come out. If they did, they would get them new -- especially since used games (at least at gamestop) are only a little bit less in price than the new games during the first month of release.
And heck, with some games having online passes, it may end up being the exact same price as the new game.
The people that buy used games don't care about getting games as soon as they come out. If they did, they would get them new -- especially since used games (at least at gamestop) are only a little bit less in price than the new games during the first month of release.
And heck, with some games having online passes, it may end up being the exact same price as the new game.
Phonomezer
Banned
Don't worry.
So were lying now?
I like Nintendo too but , really? No where near as much good is coming out for the WIIU as it is for the 3DS.
Western devs are focusing on iOS since in the American market, handhelds are becoming viewed as being pretty outdated.
Handhelds are doing really well in the Japanese market which is why a lot of high quality handheld games come from there.
I thought that statement was so outrageous that it was very clearly sarcasm, haha.
The Wii didn't get as much third party support as it probably should have gotten either, most notably from key "hardcore" game studios like Bethesda, Bioware, Rockstar, etc. Some of that could be attributed to the lesser horsepower of the Wii as compared to the HD twins but some of the reason is Nintendo themselves and that also holds true with the DS. Just because a Nintendo device sells well doesn't automatically guarantee great support. Nintendo is in a unique (and unfortunate) situation with regards to third party relations, especially in the West.
I also think that in the beginning of the PS Vita's life there was the hope that Western devs would get more on board with designing for the device because it was more powerful, easier to code for and had twin thumbsticks and a gorgeous screen. The Vita certainly had the hype to be the handheld "savior" in the West. I don't think that dream is dead yet but I also think it's already looking pretty grim with the sales numbers being what they are.
I think the flood of Indie titles announced recently are a good sign because almost all of them are from Western devs which at least shows platform awareness. There's still a lack of key tentpole titles from third party's but at least we have some decent first party stuff to look forward to later in the year and the promise of some notable PS3/PSV titles like the FFX HD Remaster. Sony really needs to drop the price of the device and the memory and up their advertising to really help the Vita's chances though.
polyh3dron
Banned
Patcher being right about something actually is groundbreaking
curlyfriski
Banned
I want Year Walk more than any game coming out on 3ds or Vita this year.
*runs*
*runs*
Father_Brain
Banned
If there's any post-launch quote stating that the Vita business is currently profitable, I'm not aware of it. All we know right now is that that was the plan prior to launch, but that was also when Sony was still expecting to sell 10 million Vitas this fiscal year. Possibly more, actually, given that nearly a year elapsed between the quotes I'm referring to and that forecast.
I'm convinced you need a very particular mindset to be able to enjoy phone gaming. Because I'm open to all platforms I keep buying games on iOS, Android and even Windows Phone. I enjoy enough Reckless Racing 2 and Super Monkey Ball 2... but wow, I'd cry if my handheld gaming was limited to that.
Yeah, we don't really know for sure either way. However, they were using off-the-shelf parts, and things get cheaper as time goes on, so it's certainly feasible that they could be making a profit as of now.
I remember those images but it's pretty clear that will be very limited. They have to force developers to come up with control schemes for PS4 -> Vita when it's only missing a few buttons. Imagine the chaos with anything else.
I meant that the PS4 was supplementing the reasons to get a Vita. Remote play is clearly not something that would be compulsory but they have focused on it considerably.
When are you now expecting the discontinuation? Before the PS4 launch? Shortly after..? Perhaps next year now? How would it be in their interest again?
AranhaHunter
Banned
I think remote play is limited to vita, 2nd screen includes vita and tablets/smartphones.
HueyFreeman
Banned
This this this. Patcher manages to troll GAF, and the Internet in general, for hits without ever actually having to generate any effort, content or substance. He just says some shit, and angry nerds gobble it up and sow his seed all over message boards everywhere. Do not feed the troll.
....
That said, he's probably right about the vita.
This is why I don't get mad at what he says. In fact, I kinda smile every time a thread is made about him because I know I'll get a good laugh at people foaming at the mouth getting ready to write a tirade about how stupid and wrong he is.
Alcotholic
Banned
But isnt that what a lot of developers are looking for? A lot of functionality to pick and choose from?
I don't own a PSVita, but what functionality is too much? What would you cut out?
Only thing I can imagine is the rear-touch pad being extra. We don't know how much it costs to implement. I still like it though I use a grip with the Vita making accidental inputs unlikely. It's nice with LBP and certain situations. Not compulsory by any means though, especially when it has a front touch screen already.
Tbh I wish they added more to it, like better triggers, perhaps even anologue r2/l2.
ArtHands
Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
I think the vita can do without the OLED screen, the overpriced proprietary memory card instead of SD card, 3G and the back touch pad. They don't affect the game quality output much, and there's nothing out from the back touch pad either.
Basically, its a jack of all trade, master of none. It is like a supercomputer rather than an ordinary computer. It have too many things that are nice to have, but not really needed.
Messofanego
Banned
I want an iPhone or at least an Android port, looks like a great and creepy adventure game after what I saw in GB Quick Look.
I NEED SCISSORS
Banned
This is one of the rare times I actually agree with Pachter. I think he is dead on with his Vita analysis. Sony desperately need to drive that price down, maybe bundle it with a memory card and a year of Plus (they also need to advertise just how amazing value this is compared with Live), and finally really drive home how good it is as a complimentary device to a PS3 (and PS4 with OnLive streaming).
The Vita is a joke and if they would have said it was just going to be a niche system and a PS4 dreaming device I would have never bought one' I expected at least half of the support the PSP got but it can't even manage that. Uncharted, Gravity Rush, and Persona are great but it needs a lot more and the people that are "fine" with the output definitely have lower expectations than me.
Baconsammy
Banned
I don't think the Vita is save-able. Sony quite literally possesses zero must-have titles in their arsenal. It would require them to get something exclusive on-par with Minecraft/Pokemon etc. I understand the 3DS is far from a success outside of Japan, but for me personally it's grown into a success. I'm at the point now where I'm ready to dump my Wii U on the first person willing to buy it and just use my 3DSXL as my sole mechanism to play Nintendo titles. I loved the Vita hardware, but I kept finding fewer and fewer reasons to use it, so I sold it. I'd love it if they turned it around, but I doubt it. Prove me wrong, Sony.
Why are you talking about it like the system's life is over? There was another thread that said there are 100 games coming out for it this year.
Going by that argument, you could say that the PS3 is un-save-able, but they've proven you don't have to have a Mario or Halo to need saving.
Punkster_NY
Member
wow so they're really is pushing the whole we're not a gaming console any more thing I see.
There's nothing on the horizon that interests me except PSO2 and I don't care for OK indie games. All I hear are games are coming but where are they? I'll wait until E3 to see if anything improves but I'm not optimistic.
Or enjoy more types of games. I'm sure most people are actually expecting bigger titles to come down the line too.
krypt0nian
Banned
Given some of the crazed shit I've read from the new Nintendo juniors here, I can believe anything.
Father_Brain
Banned
It's possible, but given the economy of scale and the sheer extent to which it's fallen short of expectations, I doubt it. Not that Sony will deign to tell us anytime soon.
Baconsammy
Banned
PS3 has/had third party support. Going by game sales figures, it sure as heck isn't selling on the strength of exclusives.